UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES B. FAIRCHILD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y. CABLE RAILWAY.

CABLE RAILWAY.

To all whom it may concern:Be it known that I, Charles B. Fairchild, of the city, county, and
State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cable
Railways; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and
exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making a
part of this specification.

My invention relates to cable railways operated with double or twin
cables, and to improved devices for gearing the cables together,
protecting the same, and taking up the slack therein.

It consists in the combination, with the twin cables, of conical
rollers arranged vertically in pairs at suitable intervals along the
length of the cables, the lower portion,of the rollers being grooved
about their periphery, to receive and embrace between them within the
grooves, and with a constant frictional pressure, the main
driving-cable, the secondary cable being caught and gripped in the
V-shaped opening between the conical rollers, whose rotation,
produced by the movement of the driving-cable, is in this manner
communicated to the secondary cable.

It consists, also, in the combination,with the car, the coupling-drum on the car over which
the secondary cable is carried, and the conical pulleys by which motion is communicated to
said secondary cable, of adjustable guide or tension pulleys adapted to tighten up the
secondary cable, and to protect it from contact and abrasion against the edges of the opening
in the subway as it passes to and from the coupling-drum.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of
a car mounted upon my improved cable railway, and arranged to be
propelled by the secondary cable. Fig. 2 is a plan, view, partly in
section, of the longitudinal covered way in which the cables are
inclosed. Fig. 3 is a transverse section in line x x of Fig. 2; and Fig.
4 is a sectional elevation, upon an enlarged scale, of the conical
gearing-pulleys by which the movement of the driving-cable is
communicated to the secondary cable.

A represents the main endless driving-cable of my cable railway. This
cable is propelled continuously, in the usual manner, by means of a
stationary engine located at a convenient point, and is supported upon
suitable friction-rollers, B B, within a continuous subway, C,
preferably sunken below the level of the ground between the rails upon
which the cars run. At suitable points intermediate the
supporting-rollers B B the main cable is led between two conical
rollers, D D, rotating freely upon vertical spindles D' D2, projecting,
the one, D', from a base-plate, E, fixed upon the bottom of the subway
C, and the other, D2, "from a movable block, E', sliding within a slot
in the fixed base-plate to and from the first. A peripheral groove, d,
is formed in the lower portion of each of these conical gear-rollers D
D, and the grooves, brought opposite to each other, serve to embrace
closely the cable led between them. The required frictional contact and
pressure of the rollers with and upon the cable is secured by an
adjustment of the movable block E' and its roller D, to and from the
fixed roller, obtained by means of a set-screw, F, actuating the sliding
block E'.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in
the presence of two subscribing witnesses.